TOI Sports Desk
NEW DELHI: Former Australian pacer Brett Lee has come up with a piece of advice for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who endured terrible runs with the bat in Test cricket this year.
Lee suggested that Rohit and Virat should take a step back from the game to focus on refining their techniques ahead of the upcoming series against Australia.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Lee emphasised how recent poor performances could lead to mounting pressure on both Rohit and Kohli.
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“When you have a couple of bad runs back-to-back, that’s when the pressure could set in. I guess the thing now is someone like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma just have to go back to the drawing board. Work on that technique, freshen up, get away from cricket as much as they can and then hit the ground running when they go to Australia, because I can promise you – these Australian fast bowlers will attack Rohit Sharma with that brand new ball,” Brett Lee said.
So far in 2024, both Kohli and Rohit have struggled to find their best form, attracting scrutiny following India’s recent 0-3 series loss against New Zealand.
Rohit has accumulated 588 runs from 11 matches this year, averaging 29.40 with two centuries and two fifties. Meanwhile, Kohli has managed just 250 runs from six matches (12 innings), averaging 22.72 with just one half-century.
Former Aussie batter Michael Hussey backed Rohit and Kohli and said that one cannot write off champion players like them.
Speaking on Fox Sports, Hussey said Aussies will find out where India stand in terms of “mentally and from a skill perspective” only after the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He added that India have got many players who are crowd-pullers.
“We will find out in the first Test match where they are at, mentally and from a skill perspective as well. They will be hurt by this, India. They have got a lot of crowd pullers and quality. We just heard from Gambhir talking about Rohit and Kohli not making runs. The silliest thing you can do is to write off champion players,” Hussey said.